Identity and Isolation: The Material Realities of an (almost) Isolated Household in Sandpoint, Idaho

Summary

A great deal of archaeology conducted on Chinese immigrant communities in the United States has documented the persistence of an array of traditional cultural practices after arrival. Recent work in Sandpoint, Idaho has identified a Chinese household/business whose material world contrasts with what many other archaeologists have previously reported on. What was identified was an amalgamation of continued use of Chinese goods with the incorporation of an array of western habits, particularly in the realm of foodways. While initially puzzling the contrasts identified illustrate the practical reality of being largely isolated in an almost exclusively Anglo-American community.